"Writing for the trade" is not necessarily a bad thing--I like a plan and one writer and one penciler giving us a nice epic.  But a lot of the most enjoyable trades have ten or twelve single stories!  (Consider it a collection of short stories rather than an entire "novel.")

We have comics aimed at kids - so Spider-Man, Avengers, Angry Birds etc - come out monthly, in a wrapper usually with a toy. You also have the Panini reprints as mentioned above - usually reprinting two to three linked titles in one issue.

Everything costs around £5 per issue though. And the Panini reprints are pretty current stories, so, you know, face peeled off Joker, decapitations, loads of blood etc. Best to stick to the wrapped in plastic issues but wrapped in plastic means you can't sample in the shop and then impulse buy.

In Birmingham, there are two main comic shops. One is fairly poorly lit and plays rock music that has the F-word a lot. The other has just moved. White walls, bright, don't know about the current music though. But it does look more inviting.

I think the comic book shops became popular because fans didn't want to miss issues that were hard to track down in convenience stores and magazine racks.  Now we have digital distribution for the adults who insist on getting every issues early, so the need for the comic shop is not as pressing.  

Comics should be available as impulse buys for young readers who are being dragged to stores with their parents.  The popularity of the films would only increase the likelihood of an impulse buy.  This would lead to the kids seeking the books out themselves, either in print or digitally.

It's not too late.  Major print magazines and newspapers were rocked by the coming of the internet, but they have found ways to have print and digital co-exist and support each other.  It's just about identifying teh audience.  I think comic books have identified their audience - and it's a bunch of pudgy, middle aged men.  They need to get the kids back, and print editions should be part of that campaign.

As much as it saddens me, I don't think the traditional comic book will do this. I think the Archie model of small collections is the closest thing we have in American to manga.  Marvel and DC should be in the supermarket check-out line in these forms.

We need lower prices, wider availability and more child-appropriate stories, not glossy printing, computer coloring and variant covers with gratuitous sex and violence in mainstream titles.

It's not rocket science.